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Friday, December 15, 2006

I think its just natural for planners to get excited when massive amounts of information come into play, especially the census. The census? Yes!! In its "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007" released on Friday, the agency also noted that Americans drink about a gallon of soda a week, along with a half gallon each of milk, bottled water, coffee and beer. Um is your child drinking half a gallon of coffee and beer a week? Maybe that explains the hyperactivity followed by vomit and the eventual passing out? Im actually thinking of going and buying this monster report, as it sounds like a truly insightful look into our lives here in the states. The information in the abstract is collected via Census Bureau surveys and from data collected by other government agencies, industry and trade groups and private organizations. Lets dig deeper shall we?

EYE OPENER: Americans will spend nearly 10 hours a day watching television, surfing the Internet, reading books, newspapers and magazines and listening to music this year, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Friday.-Good god. Nearly half our days are spent consuming endless waves of information. How much is truly sticky? How much truly changes our behavior? How much is intentional and how much is forced upon us? It would be great to see a breakout by category.

SAD REALITY: All of which may help explain another figure in the pages of the 1,300-page book of tables and statistics: About two-thirds of Americans are overweight, including one-third of whom are obese.-While im sure its not just from media use(lack of exercise anyone), this is just terrible. Go outside and play in the woods kids!

BOOB TUBE:Industry groups provided the information on media usage. They projected Americans will spend an average of nearly 4 1/2 hours daily in front of the television in 2006, or 1,555 hours in all.-Again, who has time to spend 4.5 hours in front a tv? This would imply people spend the majority of their free time sitting passively consuming filtered media. Why are ratings so low? It would be great to see this compared to internet usage, and the growth rates over the past 10 years. My guess would be some drops in tv watching despite greater penetration than ever, and more affordable sets. Also an age breakdown please!

NEVER NOT ABSORBING: Americans will spend another 2 1/2 hours listening to radio and a half hour listening to recorded music. The rest of the nearly 10 hours is spent reading newspapers, looking at the Internet, playing video games and reading other media.-Seems our free time is culling info out of every nook out there. What happened to reading a book? Or are library habits just underreported?

EXTRA, EXTRA: Projections indicate per capita time spent with the Internet will exceed time spent reading newspapers for the first time this year. Americans spend about a half an hour per day on each activity.-We knew this would happen, but not quite so soon. Its not the death of the papers but clearly an implication that news sources must change their media consumption.